Ironman UK 2013 Training/Progress Thread

kiteloopy said:
Cancelled your ticket????

I could possibly do the Outlaw 1/2 in june. But doing 2 full ironman tri's with....lets put it bluntly...little running training is looking slim. :mad::mad:
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No I'm going to call up next week, I've registered via scope so hopefully they'll open the spot for someone else.

I think I'll aim for a full marathon towards the end of the year and a few 100 mile sportives too in preparation for reentering next year.
 
King85 said:
No I'm going to call up next week, I've registered via scope so hopefully they'll open the spot for someone else.
and a few 100 mile sportives too in preparation for reentering next year.
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Snap. I can swim and cycle...and do some weight/gym work without getting into paid. Need to keep the intrest in it or no doubt i'll find a new hobby! :o
 
Thomas. PLease. said:
I've decided to start recording my efforts in a blog. Its work in progress but I'll be adding more in the next few weeks. Please let me know what you think if you check it out.
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I'll keep an eye on the blog. Like the bit about going out too fast on the new bike. I'm picking mine up this afternoon as it's in the shop getting it's annual service so I'll be giving it a good test at the weekend.

Did my first proper brick session of the year yesterday. As the bike is in the shop I had to use the mountain bike. Did 35 miles followed straight after by a 5 mile run at 7.58 pace. Run felt really good although a yappy dog tried to trip me up near the end!

Spending quite a lot of time at the pool learning how to swim properly as well. I've never been very good with water and since I started triathlon 2 years ago I've been swimming with my head above the water. I've finally given myself a kick up the backside and forced myself to learn to swim properly. Last week I had a massive breakthrough and managed 800m with my head under water. The confidence this has given is massive and I am already swimming at a much faster pace. My half Ironman swim time last year was 52 minutes and I'm aiming to get this under 40 minutes which will hopefully equate to a time of 1:20 in August!!

I've also been doing a lot of strength work at the gym over the winter. Got a personal trainer who has helped a lot and I'm looking and feeling a lot stronger than I ever have.

Looking at my schedule for the next few months is a little daunting but I can't wait to get going!!!
 
Thanks Dolmio, congratulations on the swimming, that's great news, good effort. Stick at it and the gains will start to come!

I know what you mean about it being daunting looking at the schedule, I'm starting to ramp up from 10 hours now. Can't wait to get some more miles in on the TT bike though now.
 
It's a good read. Nice to see someone else having to endure the turbo.

I was down near Swindon a couple of weeks ago. Me and the wife did a boot camp near Chipping Norton and then stayed at my friends (who is also doing IM) in Cirencester. We went out and did a 53 mile bike ride round the Cotswolds which I really enjoyed!!

My training is going pretty well at the moment. The addition of strength training has helped a lot.

Weather up here has been awful, more the wind than anything else.

This week I did in total:

Swim: 1.57 miles
Bike: 56.3 miles
Run: 22.67 miles

It's been a pretty tough weekend. I did 45 miles on the turbo yesterday while watching the Sopranos. Then straight out and did 5 miles in 40:10. Not bad given that on the way back the wind made it like running into a brick wall!! This is one of the disadvantages of living at the bottom of a valley, when it's windy it's very windy.

Legs were tired this morning but I had to get out for my long run. Wind was as bad as yesterday but still did 11.5 miles at 8:22 pace. It felt a lot slower.

Next weekend is going to be fun as well. I've got 3 races and also have to fit in a long bike which will hopefully be outside if the weather picks up. Scheldule is

Friday: Elswick Road Relays (only 2.25 miles but all out)
Saturday: 3-4 hour bike
Sunday: North Tyneside 10km Road Race
Monday: Morpeth Duathlon (5.5km run / 29km bike / 3.5km run)

Motivation wise I'm pretty much where I want to be. Feel tired a lot but with the realisation that it's just over 4 months away I am keeping focused and just keep putting the effort in.

In the past there have been times where I would slack off a run if it was bad outside (much like today) but I know I have to get on with it if I have any chance of getting to the end on race day.

Right I'm off for a nap now!!! :D
 
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Ah nice one, sounds like your training is coming on nicely. Yeah the Cotswolds has some nice cycling roads. Let us know how you get on next weekend with all the activity!

Yeah I'm hoping my motivation will improve this week. Luckily its just the swimming which is getting the brunt of the missed sessions at the moment.
 
So your IM is on 4th August? Meaning you are approaching the big months (April/May/June) of training?
Do you have it all planned out and following a schedule?
The two most important things IMO is the bike and your food prep.

What does your busiest week look like?
 
Yes and yes.
Yeah I'm following the Don Fink program, which is currently around 12 hours a week, and so I have it all in a spreadsheet with what I'm due to be doing on what day. The biggest week before the taper is 20 hours, the majority of that being a 6 hour ride into an hour run, and then a 3 hour run with a 90 minute ride on the Saturday and Sunday.

I'm pretty happy with the bike at the moment as I've only missed one bike session in three months. But all my rides have been under 60 miles atm.

Any words of wisdom? What sort of training did you put in before yours? and what time did you finish in if you don't mind me asking?
 
Excellent work, just trust in the program and in your training. It always feels as if you are not doing enough and as you get closer you doubt you have not done enough. But you'll be fine sticking with a proven program.
One thing I'd recommend is completing the full bike course a couple of times (112 miles). It's just such a daunting task, and the fist time I did it I was a mess (although it was over 110 degrees) and I doubted my training. Couple of weeks later, approached it slightly different (better food prep and hydration) and even though it was similar weather, it was much much smoother. After that, I felt confident in completing everything.
Do a few small brick sessions if you can. just to get used to the changing, the transitions and what not.
I think the food/hydration prep might be quite different over in the UK, should be much clearly and smoother.
The event itself is extremely well organized and you'll have nothing to worry about (except other athletes being idiots)
I'll give you some words of wisdom closer to the event ;)
 
I've got a 24 week training program I'm following as closely as possible. You're right though, the next 3 months are going to be really tough. I'm trying to fit in a few races within my training just to break up the monotony.

Sounds as if my biggest week is similar to that of Thomas.

I've got a 104 mile bike race sorted for the end June. It has about 2000ft more climbing than Ironman so that will definitely be useful.

I'm also using the same nutrition as they will be handing out at IM to make sure there are no unpleasant stomach related incidents on the day.

Hopefully the full IM will be a little better organised than last year's 70.3. Parts of that were a bit of a farce!!
 
Thomas. PLease. said:
Short update on the blog this week;

http://thomaswhatley.blogspot.co.uk/
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Glad to see the motivation returning. I'm aiming to up my swimming this week as it's the bit I've neglected too much so far.

I've had a pretty busy and tiring Easter

On Friday I did the Elswick Relays. It was a 2.2 mile run over 4 legs. I was 4th leg and finished in exactly 14 minutes at an average pace of 6.23 per mile, the fastest I've ever done. Considering I've done no pace work at all this year I can only conclude the Ironman training plus losing 12lbs since Christmas has turned me into a half decent runner!!!

Saturday I took the bike out. It was freezing but I rode 55 miles with 3200ft of climb.

Sunday I ran the North Tyneside 10km. I was planning on taking it easy as I knew I still had the duathlon to do on Monday. Conditions were good but still a bit cold. I started well doing the first mile in 6.49 but I always start off fast so I expected to slow down. I didn't!! At half way I was round about the 21.30 mark so knew if I could hold on I could beat my PB of 43.34. I felt good so attempted to up the pace slightly. Still my legs felt fine and I came home in 42.04 taking 90 seconds off my previous best. Negative split on the time as well which I was even more pleased about!!

Yesterday I woke up and the legs felt ok. I expected a bit of soreness after the 10km. The duathlon was 5.5km/29km/3.5km. As soon as I started my legs were a bit heavy so I took it easier than the day before. I did the first run in 26.29. Legs were very heavy on the bike and it was freezing. This took 1hr 5mins at 16.4mph. Lastly the 3.5km run took 16.29. I was pleased with my transitions, T1: 1:05 and T2: 59 seconds. Total time was 1:50:25 to finish 122 out of 210 finishers. On fresh legs I think I would have easily broken into the top 100.

Today I am having a rest before it all starts again tomorrow!!! :D
 
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